[nylug-talk] ubuntu looking to replace init

[Joseph M. Gaffney]

On Monday 11 September 2006 23:02, Ruben Safir wrote:
> > That's the JFDI event.
>
> Right - its the only one that matters, IMO, which is why an 'events' driven
> init system isn't indearing to me, let alone my opinions of anything which
> involves Apple ideas.

Well... its not an Apple idea, but I bet an event driven init system is more 
interesting to you than you think. 

<snip unrelated stuffs>

> Do I want my computer to notice that I plugged in an ehternet jack and have
> it automatically turn on networking and mail?
>
> No...

Nope, and thats not what this is for.  Upstart, when you turn on your system, 
knows that you want to (or don't want to) connect to a network.  Why? Because 
you've decided this, as a user, and its been saved to the config.  Lets say 
you want to.

However, your cat5 has somehow slipped out of the jack, and you don't have an 
active net connection.  Do you really need your system to wait for an ip for 
20 seconds, hidden behind a boot splash you never pay attention to because it 
always Just Works?  No, you don't want that.  You want your system to be 
smart enough to know that there is no cat5 cable, so its not going to get an 
ip address - the two are related. Now, a cable is the nice one - you can 
simply plug it in.  However, what if something is wrong with your network 
card?  Is it necessary to wait, or wouldn't you like to get right into the 
CLI or  your DE of choice to resolve the issue?

Lets take it further.  Say you use a variety of servers, www, ftp, whatever, 
specifically set up for use over a network.  Well, if it were tied into 
Upstart, you wouldn't have to wait for each of them to load and find there is 
no connection.  You wouldn't have to shut them down while you resolved the 
matter, as they wouldn't start in the first place, and you would be told 
*why* they didn't start.  At least, this is the idea as I understand it.

Upstart could be much more simple and yet, much more intelligent than the 
current situation.   I would at least hold back until you've tried it before 
condemning it, it may be better than you believe.

>
> Ruben
>

-Joseph M. Gaffney aka CuCullin